Apparatus for conveying elongated articles



Jan. 3, 1967 H. D. MITCHELL, JR. ETAL 2 7 APPARATUS FOR CONVEYINGELOHGATED ARTICLES Filed May 24, 1965 5 Sheets-$heet 1 TO CONTROLcuzcun" INVENTORS H 0. M/ 7'CHEL 1., JE. To EM. M75545 CONT 0L (JRCJJ H'BY A4 A. WELLS of ylazd/ ATTORNEY Jan. 3, 1967 H. D. MITCHELL, JR, ETAL3,295,651

7 APPARATUS FOR CONVEYING ELONGATED ARTICLES Filed May 24, 1965 a I TOCONTROL A cHZcwT SOURCE.

v. I I-1 1 OF Rza T 1 J14 UNDER PREssMRE 1967 H. D. MITCHELL, JR, ETAL3,295,61

APPARATUS FOR CONVEYING ELONGATED ARTICLES United States Patent3,295,661 APPARATUS FOR CONVEYING ELONGATED ARTICLES Henry D. Mitchell,Jr., Robert M. Tribble, and Hugh A.

Wells, Winston-Salem, N.C., assiguors to Western Electhe Company,Incorporated, New York, N.Y., a corporation of New York Filed May 24,1965, Ser. No. 458,203 Claims. (til. 1198-33) This invention relates toapparatus for conveying elongated articles, and more particularly, toapparatus having facilities for feeding and spacing in a predeterminedmanner elongated articles to facilitate subsequent orienting of thearticles and having other facilities for orienting the fed and spacedarticles in a predetermined position.

Electrical dry-reed or sealed-contact switches include, among otherthings, two minute and fragile electrical reeds or cont-acts encasedwithin a glass tube. These reeds are formed by flattening one end ofround wire stock to produce an elongated article or reed having aflattened or paddle end and an unflattened or wire end.

Prior to the time such reeds are assembled within the glass tube toproduce a dry reed switch, it may be desirable to heat treat the reeds.Conveniently, this heat treatment is accomplished by heatingsimultaneously in an oven large numbers of reeds which are positionedand held in a rack. To facilitate simultaneous handling of the reeds forthe heat treatment, a single reed is placed with its paddle end up ineach of a plurality of holes in the rack.

Additionally, where the rack is also subsequently used as a supplycontainer for the heat-treated reeds in the assembly of the dry-reedswitches, it has been found that this assembly is greatly facilitated ifall of the reeds are placed in the holes in the same endwise position,preferably with their paddle ends up.

However, due to the minuteness and fragility of the reeds, any manualhandling and placement of the reeds in the holes of the rack is bothtime consuming and capable of damaging the reeds. Therefore, to preventsuch time consumption and reed damage, mechanical conveying systemsincluding, for example, feeding devices and orientors, have been used tofeed and orient the reeds to dispense them into the holes of the rackwith their paddle ends in an upward position.

Nevertheless, it has been found that reeds fed into the orientors oftenjam such orientors, interrupting the dispensing of the reeds into theholes of the rack. This jamming may be caused, for example, either bybent reeds or by several overlying reeds beginning to enter theorientor. Upon the jamming of the orientor it is necessary todiscontinue the operation of the conveying system in order to remove thejammed reeds.

Additionally, it has been found that jamming of the orientor causesreeds to back up on the feeding device. Therefore, upon the jamming ofthe orientor it is necessary to remove this backup of reeds from thefeeding device simultaneously with the removal of the jammed reeds fromthe orientor.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide new andimproved apparatus for conveying elongated articles.

Another object of this invention resides in conveying apparatus forfeeding and orienting elongated articles having unlike ends in apredetermined position to dispense the articles with a selected one ofthe ends in an upward position.

Further, another object of this invention is the provision of apparatusfor feeding and orienting elongated articles to dispense the articles ina predetermined manner, having facilities to correct the jamming of thearticles in the apparatus.

A further object of this invention is to provide apparatus for orientingand dispensing elongated articles having facilities for removing anyarticles that may jam in or back up on a track of the apparatus.

Another object of this invention is to provide conveying apparatuswherein elongated articles are oriented and then fed in such a mannerthat the articles may be quickly and continuously oriented in apredetermined manner, and wherein facilities are provided to maintainthe apparatus continuously operating even though bent or overlyingarticles jam the apparatus.

With these and other objects in view, the present invention contemplatesapparatus for conveying elongated articles. The apparatus includes anorientor which positions the articles in a predetenmined endwiseorientation. The orientor has a pair of normally adjacent plates whichdefine a track, an inlet for receiving the articles from the track, achamber, a pair of rails for orienting the articles, and an outlet fordispensing the oriented articles. A device feeds the articles to theinlet of the orientor in a column of random, endwise orientations.Another device responsive to the presence of the articles for a firstpredetermined time ejects every other article from the feeding device ifthe article to be ejected is less than the length of one article behindthe article to which the ejecting device is responding. Such ejection.of every other article from the feeding device spaces the articles apartat intervals at least equal to the length of the articles. Additionally,facilities responsive to the presence of the articles for a second timegreater than the first predetermined time moves the plates of theorientor away from each other to open the chamber and to permit movementfrom such chamber of any articles therein and also to remove from thetrack at .a position adjacent the inlet any articles thereon.

A complete understanding of this invention may be had by referring tothe following detailed description and accompanying drawingsillustrating a preferred embodiment thereof, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a piece of round wire stock which isformed into an elongated article or reed;

FIG. 2 is a perspective vie-w of a reed which has been produced byflattening one end of the piece of wire stock shown in FIG. 1 so thatthe reed has a paddle end and an unflattened or wire end:

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of an apparatus for feeding, orienting,.and dispensing the reeds depicted in FIG. 2 with their paddle ends up;I

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing an orientor having a funnel-shapedchamber in an opened condition by the operation of a photocell and alsoshowing a spacer operable by the photocell for spacing the reedsdepicted in FIG. 2 fed by a feeding device by a distance at least equalto the length of one reed;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged, top view showing in detail certain parts of theorientor including orienting rails for dispensing the reeds with theirpaddle end up, a light aperture aligned with the photocell, a tab memberfor overlying the aperture when the chamber is in an open condition, anda hold-down member for preventing more than one reed from entering thechamber and also showing a portion of the feeding device which feedsspaced reeds to the orientor;

FIG. 6 is an enlarged, partially cutaway, front view showing in greaterdetail the parts of the orientor depicted in FIG. 5, including a pair ofnormally adjacent plates, the funnel-shaped chamber in a closedcondition and having a pair of sloping walls and a pair of verticalwalls, a pair of inlets defined by the orienting rails and 3 by thesloping chamber walls, and an outlet for dispensing oriented reeds; and

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of an electrical control circuit connectedto the photocell shown in FIG. 4 for spacing the reeds on the feedingdevice by a distance at least equal to the length of one reed and forsensing faulty operation of the feeding device and of the orientor foropening the chamber by swinging apart the normally adjacent plates ofthe orientor to correct such faulty operation.

Attention is first directed to FIGS. 1 and 2 where there is shown awire-like stock material. 11. By flattening one end of the material 11,an elongated article or reed 12 is formed having a flattened or paddleend 13 and an unflattened or Wire-like end 14. Typically, the ratio ofthe length of the paddle end 13 to the length of the wire end 14 isabout four to five, with the center of gravity of the reed 12 lyingmidway between the ends of such reed 12.

Referring now to FIGS. 3-7, there is shown the conveying apparatus ofthe present invention. The conveying apparatus includes a feeding device16, an orientor 17, and a control circuit 18 (FIG. 7).

The feeding device 16 includes a bowl 21 having an upwardly directed,helical pathway 22 formed on the interior wall thereof. The bowl 21 maybe made of cast epoxy resin having an aluminum oxide filler to reduceWear of the pathway 22 and is drivable by conventional rotary vibratoryapparatus (not shown) for feeding the reeds 12 in a column along thepathway 22. Advantageously, the pathway 22 is less than double the widthof the paddle ends 13 of the reeds 12 to prevent the reeds 12 from beingfed up the pathway in side-by-side relationship, while providing acertain degree of freedom of lateral movement for the reeds 12 as theymove up the pathway 22.

First and second needle-type air nozzles 23 and 24 are positioned withinthe bowl 21 by mounting brackets 25 and 26 attached to the outside wallof the bowl 21. The open ends of the nozzles 23 and 24 are positionedadjacent and above the pathway 22 by a distance slightly greater thanthe diameter of the wire end 14 of the reeds 12 to direct aircontinuously emitted by the nozzles 23 and 24 obliquely to and slightlyabove the pathway 22 toward the interior of the bowl 21. Suchcontinuously emitted air accelerates the reeds 12 fed up the pathway 22and assures that only a single column of the reeds 12 is fed up thepathway 22 by separating reeds 12 fed up the pathway 22, one on top ofthe other or overlying, as shown at 27 in FIG. 3.

Air also is continuously emitted from a third needletype air nozzle 28which extends partially through an aperture 31, FIGS. 4 and 5, in thewall of the feed bowl 16 to blow bent reeds 12 back into the bowl 21. Abracket 32 attached to the outside of the bowl 21 positions the open endof the nozzle 28 above and transverse to the pathway 22 by a distanceslightly greater than the diameter of the wire end 14 of the reeds 12.

Also mounted to the bowl 21 by the mounting bracket 32 is a spacer orinterval nozzle 33 of the needle-type. The open end of the intervalnozzle 33 extends partially through an aperture 34 in the wall of thefeed bowl 21 and is positioned adjacent and transverse to the pathway22. Passage of air through the interval nozzle 33 is controlled by aphotocell 35 connected to the electrical control circuit 18, FIG. 7. Thenozzle 33 intermittently emits a jet of air from its open end transverseto the pathway 22 and toward the interior of the bowl 21 for as long asthe photocell 35 receives no light. Such intermittent air emissionspaces the reeds 12 fed up the pathway 22 by a distance at least equalto the length of one reed 12 by returning every other reed 12 into thefeed bowl 21.

Positioned adjacent the termination point 36 of the pathway 22 is thereed orientor 17. The reed orientor 17. The second plate 38 is movablymounted to the first plate 37 by a hinge pin 42 so that such plate 38 isswingable with respect to the stationary plate 37.

A coil spring 43 surrounding the hinge pin 42 normally maintains theplate 38 in a position adjacent the stationary plate 37 (FIGS. 3, 5, and6). The plates 37 and 38 substantially abut each other when the plate 38is in its normal closed position.

With the plate 38 in its normal closed position, FIGS. 3, 5, and 6,cutaway portions 44 and 45, FIGS. 5 and 6, on the tops of the plates 37and 38 define a horizontal track 46 for feeding the reeds 12 into theorientor 17 due to the vibratory motion imparted to the orientor 17 bythe extension 41 of the bowl 21 and further due to the action of thenozzle 24. The reeds 12 are fed on the track 46 with their paddle endsin a horizontal position. The track 46 is an extension of the pathway22, as can be seen in FIG. 5, but immediatelynarrows down from a widthat its initial portion 47 equal to the width of the pathway 22 to awidth slightly greater than the width of the paddle ends 13 of the reeds12.

In addition, when the movable plate 38 is in its normal closed position,the plates 37 and 38 define a vertical aperture 48 through such plates.A light source 51 is positioned beneath the aperture 4-8 to direct abeam of light 52 through such aperture 48 onto the photocell 35positioned above the aperture 48. The distance between the aperture 48and the open end of the interval nozzle 33 is equal to the length of onereed 12.

A horizontal tab member 53 \is attached to the front or the movableplate 38, which in its normal closed position, maintains the tab 53behind the aperture 48. When the movable plate 38 is swung away from thestationary plate 37, the tab member overlies the aperture 48 andmomentarily breaks the light beam 52. As the movable plate 38 is swungfurther away from the stationary plate 37, the tab 53 eventually nolonger overlies the aperture 48 and, therefore, no longer breaks thelight beam 52.

Cut into the plates 37 and 38 are tunnel-shaped grooves 54 and 55. Whenthe movable plate 38 is in its normal closed position, such grooves 54and 55 match to form a chamber 56, FIGS. 5 and 6, having two slopingwalls 57 and 58 and two vertical walls 59 and 60, which extend from arectangular opening 61 at the lower surface of the track 46 downwardly.Advantageously, the length of the rectangular opening 61 is slightlygreater than the length of the wire end .14 of the reeds 12. The chamber56 terminates in an outlet 62, one half of which is formed in the lowerends of each of the plates 37 and 38.

Horizontal orienting rails 63 are mounted near the tops of the verticalwalls 59 and 60, respectively, of the chamber 56. Advantageously, theupper horizontal surfaces of the orienting rails 63 lie in the sameplane as the bottom of the track 46 :and have longitudinal dimensionswhich are less than the length of the rectangular opening 61.

A pair of inlets 65 and 66 are defined by sloping end surfaces of therails 63 and by the tops of the sloping walls 57 and 58 of the orientingchamber 56. The inlets 65 and 66 have longitudinal dimensions which areslightly greater than the diameter of the wire ends 14 of the reeds 12and transverse dimensions which are slightly greater than the width ofthe paddle ends 13 of the reeds 12. The distance between the rails 63transverse to the track 46 is less than the width of the paddle ends 13of the reeds 12.

Mounted to the movable plate 38 is a hold-down member 67 which overliesthe rectangular opening 61 and the inlets 65 and 66 when the plate 38 isin its normal closed position. The hold-down member 67 is positionedabove and spaced from the lower surface of the track 46 by a distanceslightly greater than the diameter of the wire ends 14 of the reeds 12to assure that the paddle ends 13 of the reeds 12 fed on the track 46are maintained in a horizontal position.

Further, the spacing between the hold-down member 67 and the lowersurface of the track 46 prevents two overlying reeds .12, .as shown at27, FIG. 3, or a bent reed 12 trom entering the chamber 56. If a bentreed 1-2 or two or more overlying reeds 27 reach the hold-down member67, such reeds 12 being unable to pass beneath the hold-down member 67,the orientor 17 jams and the reeds 12 back up on the track 46 and on thepathway 22.

An orifice 68 passes through the vertical wall 59 of the chamber 56immediately above the uppermost portion of the outlet 62. Directlyopposite the orifice 68, when the plate 38 is in its normal closedposition, is a recess 71 (FIGS. 4 and 6) formed in the vertical wall 61of the groove 55 of the movable plate 38. A tubular member 72, FIG. 5,through which a blast of air may be selectively emitted, is positionedwithin the orifice 68 to direct such air blast against the recess 71.Emission of an air blast is initiated by the photocell 35 and by thecontrol circuit 18.

Operation In operation, a plurality of randomly disposed reeds 12 havingpaddle ends 13 and wire ends 14 are dumped into the bowl 21.

The control circuit 18 is energized by a voltage source 73 upon theclosing of a pair of switches 75 in conductors 74, FIG. 6, and therotary vibratory apparatus (not shown) is also energized to feed thereeds 12 up the pathway 22, FIG. 3.

Such reeds 12 have various straight and bent conditions and have variousrelationships to each other. First, the reeds 12 may be bent andunacceptable or may be straight and acceptable. Second, the reeds 12 maybe in a column of (i) single reeds, (ii) groups of reeds havingsideby-side relationships, (iii) groups of reeds having overlyingrelationships, or (iv) a combination of the single reeds and the groupsof reeds. Third, the single reeds 12 and groups of reeds may be inabutting relationships or may be separated from each other in thedirection of feeding on the pathway 22.

The air nozzles 23, 24, and 28 remove most of the bent reeds from thepathway 22 by blowing such bent reeds back into the bowl 21. Thesenozzles 23, 24, and 28 also remove most of the groups 27 of overlyingreeds 12 from the pathway 22 and return such removed reeds to the bowl21. All but one of the reeds in the groups of side-by-side reeds areremoved from the pathway 22 either by the vibrating pathway 22, which isless than twice the width of the paddle ends 14, or by the narrowed,initial portion 47 of the track 46.

Assuming that a single column oi unbent and non-overlying reeds 12 withtheir ends abutting are bed on the pathway 22 to the track 46, the firstreed 12 of the column passes over the vertical aperture 48 and breaksthe light beam 52. Breaking of the light beam 52 triggers the photocell35 to operate a relay 76. Such operation of the relay 76 closes anormally opened contact 77 to connect a solenoid 78 to the source 73through the lines 74. Connecting the solenoid 78 to the source 73 opensa valve 79 to permit a blast of air to emit from the open end of theinterval nozzle 33. Such blast of air blows the reed 12 following thefirst reed 12 from the pathway 22 back into the bowl 16. The intervalnozzle 33 is operated for .as long as the first reed 12 travels over theaperture 48 and interrupts the light beam 52 to assure that the distancebetween successively .fed reeds is at least equal to the length of asingle reed 12. All of the successively fed reeds 12 on the pathway 22are spaced in this same fashion.

Assuming now that the first reed 12 is fed onto the track 46 with itswire end 14 first, as this reed 12 passes over the inlet 65 of theorienting chamber 56, the center of gravity of such reed 12 becomesunsupported by the track 46. The unsupported center of gravity tips thewire end 14 of the reed 12 downwardly between the orienting rails 63 andthe reed 12 enters the chamber 56. Subsequently, the reed 12 isdispensed from the outlet 62 with its wire end 14 down and its paddleend 13 up.

On the other hand, if the first reed 12 is fed onto the track 46 withits paddle end 13 first, the: paddle end 13 is maintained horizontallyby the hold-down member 67 and is supported by the orienting rails 63"as the reed 12 passes over the inlet 65. The paddle end 13 beingsupported by the orienting rails 63, the reed 12 is unable to tipdownwardly to enter the chamber 56. Therefore, the reed 12 continues totravel above the rectangular opening 61 of the chamber 56. As the paddleend 13 passes over the inlet 66, the wire end 14 and the center ofgravity of the reed 12 become unsupported by the track 46. Theunsupported center of gravity tips the wire end 14 of the reed 12downwardly between the orienting rails 63. The reed 12 then falls intothe chamber 56 and is dispensed by the outlet 62 with its wire end 14down and its paddle end 13 up.

Since in orienting the first reed 12 the following reed 12 is spacedfrom the first reed 12 by a distance at least equal to the length of onereed 12, the following reed 12 does not enter the chamber 56 while thefirst reed 12 is being oriented. Thus, if the first reed 12 is fed withits paddle end 13 first to the orientor 17 necessitating the feeding ofthis reed 12 across the entire top of the rectangular opening 61 of thechamber 56, there is not present, directly behind this first reed 12,another reed 12 fed with its wire end first, which can enter the chamber56 simultaneously with the first reed 12. Therefore, only one reed 12 ata time is dispensed from the outlet 62.

Assume now that, due to some failure of the nozzles 23, 24, and 28 toproperly operate, either a bent reed 12 or a group 27 of overlying reeds12, FIG. 3, is fed to the orientor 17 on the track 46. The bent reed 12,being unable to pass under the hold-down member 67, jams the orientor 17and causes succeeding reeds 12 to back up on the track 46. Similarly,the group 27 of overlying reeds 12 is unable to pass under the hold-downmember 67, succeeding reeds 12 backing up on the track 46. Such a backupof reeds 12 on the track 46 interrupts the light beam 52 for a timelonger than the time it takes one reed 12 to travel over the aperture48. Such interruption of the light beam 52 operates the relay 76 toclose the contact 77 for operating the interval nozzle 33.

Operation of the relay 76 also closes a normally open contact 81.Closing of the contact 81 connects a timedelay relay 82 to the source 73through the conductors 74. The time-delay relay 82 is selected to remainunoperated for a time equal to the time one reed 12 requires to passover the aperture 48, after such relay 82 is connected to the source 73.Since the reeds 12 are backed up on the track 46 and are not passingover the aperture 48, the time-delay relay 82 operates. Such operationof the time-delay relay 82 closes normally open contacts 83 and 84.

Closing of the contact 83 bypasses the contact 77 for continuouslyoperating the solenoid 78 and the valve 79 to emit a continuous streamof air from the open end of the interval nozzle 33. Such continuousstream of air blows all subsequently fed reeds 12 from the pathway 22 toprevent a greater backup of reeds 12 on the track 46.

Closing of the contact 84 connects a solenoid 85 to the source 73through the conductors 74. Connecting the solenoid 85 to the source 73opens a valve 86 to allow a blast of air to emit from the tubular member72 in the orifice 68. Such blast of air swings the plate 38 away fromthe stationary plate 37 on the hinge pin 42 to open the chamber 56. Uponsuch swinging movement of the plate 38, the blast of air also createsturbulence in the now opened chamber 56. Due to the movement of theplate 38 away from the stationary plate 37, and due to the turbulencewithin the opened chamber 56, any reeds 12 which are within such chamber56 and any reeds 12 backed up on the track 46 are ejected, thus clearingthe orientor 17 of all reeds 12. To assure that the movable plate 33remains open for a time sufficient to clear the orientor 17, the tabmember 53 moves to an overlying relationship with the aperture 48 as theplate 38 is swung open. The overlying relationship of the tab 53 withthe aperture 48 maintains the light beam 52 interrupted and thetime-delay relay 82 operated.

As the blast of air emitting from the tubular member 72 continues toswing the plate 38 away from the stationary plate 37, the tab member 53moves out of its overlying relationship with the aperture 48. If thereeds 12 backed up on the track 46 have been removed from such track bythe swinging movement of the plate 38, the light beam 52 is no longerinterrupted, and the relay 76 is deenergized to open the contact-s 77and 81. Such opening of the contact 81 de-energizes the time-delay relay82. De-energization of the time-delay relay 82 both opens contact 83 andopens contact 84, de-energizing the solenoid 85, to cease emission ofair from the tubular member 72. Since both of the contacts 77 and 83 arenow opened, the interval nozzle 33 ceases to emit the continuous streamof air.

If, after the tab 53 is moved out of the overlying relationship with theaperture 48, reeds 12 remain backed up on the track 46, the light beam52 will not be restored and both the interval nozzle 33 and the tubularmember 72 will continue to emit blasts of air.

Assuming that the backup of the reeds 12 has been cleared from the track46 and that the tab member 53 is no longer overlying the aperture 48 dueto the swinging of the plate 38 away from the plate 37, air no longeremits from the tubular member '72 due to the opening of contact 84.After the forces exerted on the plate 38 by its own inertia and by thecoil spring 43 balance, the plate 38 begins to return to its normalclosed position adjacent the stationary plate 37. As the spring 43swings the plate 38 back to such normal closed position, the tab member53 again breaks the light beam 52. However, such breaking of the lightbeam is not of a sufiicient duration to operate the time-delay relay 82,and the plate 38 returns to its normal closed position.

As can be seen from FIG. 5, it makes no difference in the operation ofthe conveying apparatus whether the second reed 12 following the firstreed 12 actually a'buts or is spaced some distance behind the first reed12. If the spacing between the first and second reeds 12 is less thanthe length of one reed 12, the second reed 12 is blown from the pathway22 by the interval nozzle 33. If the second reed 12 is spaced from thefirst reed 12 by a distance greater than one reed length, the intervalnozzle 33 does not operate to return such second reed 12 to the bowl 21.

The orientor 17 is now cleared of reeds 12 in the chamber 56 and thebackup of reeds 12, including the bent reed 12 or group 27 of overlyingreeds 12, is removed from the track 46. Therefore, the conveyingapparatus further feeds, orients, and dispenses the reeds 12 from theoutlet 62 with their paddle ends 13 in an upward position.

It is to be understood that the above-described arrangements are simplyillustrative of the application of the principles of this invention.Numerous other arrangements may be readily devised by those skilled inthe art which will embody the principles of the invention and fallwithin the spirit and scope thereof.

What is claimed is:

1. An apparatus for conveying elongated articles, which comprises:

means for orienting the elongated articles in a predetermined endwiseposition, said orienting means including a pair of normally adjacentplates, said plates defining an inlet for receiving said articles, achamber, and an outlet for dispensing said oriented articles;

means for successively feeding said articles to said inlet of saidorienting means in a column of random endwise positions;

means responsive to the presence of said articles of said column ofarticles for a first predetermined time for ejecting every other articleof said olumn of articles to space apart said articles at intervals atleast equal to the length of said articles; and

means responsive to the presence of said articles for a second timegreater than said first predetermined time for moving at least one ofsaid plates away from said other plate to open said chamber to permitthe movement therefrom of any articles therein.

2. An apparatus for conveying elongated articles, which comprises:

an orientor having a stationary plate and a movable plate normallyadjacent to said stationary plate, said plates defining an inlet forreceiving said articles, a track leading to said inlet, a chamber, andan outlet for dispensing said articles;

a helical pathway leading up to the track of said orientor;

means for successively feeding said articles up said pathway in a columnof random endwise positions onto said track and into the inlet of saidorientor;

means responsive to the presence of said articles on said track for apredetermined time for ejecting every other article of said column ofarticles to space apart said articles on said pathway at intervals atleast equal to the length of said articles;

a tubular member fixed to said stationary plate and having an orificeleading into the orienting hamber;

a source of air connected to the tubular member; and

means responsive to the presence of said articles on said pathway for asecond time greater than said first time for rendering effective saidsource of air to produce a blast of air from said orifice to move saidnormally adjacent plate away from said stationary plate to open saidorienting chamber to both discharge any articles within said chamber andremove from said track any articles thereon.

3. In an apparatus for conveying elongated articles, means for orientingthe articles, which means comprises:

a stationary plate and a movable plate normally abutting said stationaryplate, said normally abutting adjacent plates mutually defining an inletfor receiving said articles, a track defined by said plates leading tosaid inlet for transporting said articles thereon to said inlet, achamber defined by said plates communicating with said inlet forreceiving oriented articles therein from said inlet, and an outletdefined by said plates for dispensing said articles in saidpredetermined endwise position; and

means responsive to the failure of said inlet to receive said articlesdue to stoppage of said articles on said track for moving said normallyabutting plate away from said stationary plate to open said chamber toboth permit the movement therefrom of any articles therein and removefrom said track any articles thereon.

4. In an apparatus for onveying reeds having wirelike ends andoppositely extending flat ends, means for orienting the reeds, whichcomprises:

a stationary plate and a movable plate normally adjacent said stationaryplate, said normally adjacent plates defining a funnel-shaped chamberhaving an upper enlarged entrance and a lower restricted outlet fordispensing said reeds;

a pair of rails spaced apart a distance greater than the diameter ofsaid wire-like ends and less than the width of said flat ends, one ofsaid rails being fixed to each plate within said entrance for supportingsaid fiat ends and permitting said Wire-like ends to pass between saidrail to orient said reeds with their fiat ends up, the ends of saidrails and the sides of said rectangular entrance defining a pair ofinlets leading from said entrance and into said chamber for receivingsaid reeds;

a track formed on the upper surfaces of said plate and leading to saidentrance for feeding said reeds to said rails and said inlets; and

means responsive to the failure of said inlets to receive said reeds dueto stoppage of said reeds on said track for moving said normallyadjacent movable plate away from said stationary plate to open saidchamber both to permit the movement from said chamber of any reedstherein and to separate said rails and said track to remove therefromany reeds thereon.

5. In an apparatus for conveying elongated articles,

means for orienting the articles, which means comprises:

a stationary plate and a movable plate normally contiguous to saidstationary plate and pivotally mounted to said stationary plate, saidplates defining a track, a rectangular entrance for receiving saidarticles from said track, a funnel-shaped chamber having an upper wideportion leading into said entrance and a lower restricted portion, andan outlet leading from said lower restricted portion of saidfunnel-shaped chamber for dispensing said articles;

means including a pair of spaced rails mounted within said entrance fororienting said articles in a predetermined endwise position to depositsaid oriented articles in said chamber;

a tubular member leading into said chamber through an orifice in saidstationary plate; and

means responsive to the stoppage of said articles on said track forproducing a blast of air from said tubular member to pivot said normallycontiguous plate away from said stationary plate to open said chamber toeject any articles within said chamber and to separate said track toremove any articles from said track.

6. An apparatus for conveying elongated articles, which comprises:

a bowl including a pathway which holds a'plurality of said articles;

means including a pair of spaced rail members for orienting saidarticles in a predetermined endwise position to dispense said orientedarticles;

a track leading into said orienting means;

means for successively feeding said articles in random endwiseorientations out of said bowl, on said pathway, along said track, andinto said orienting means;

means responsive to a foremost of said articles being fed on said trackfor removing from said pathway the next following article which isspaced less than the length of one article from said foremost article tospace said successively fed articles by a distance at least equal tosaid length; and

means responsive to the failure of said orienting means to continuouslyreceive therein articles due to cessation of movement of said articlesalong said track for removing from said orienting means any articlestherein and for continuously operating said removing means to remove anyarticles present on said track.

7. An apparatus for feeding and orienting reeds having a predeterminedlength, which comprises:

means for receiving and for orienting said reeds in a predeterminedendwise position, said orienting means including at least two, normallyabutting, relatively movable plates which define a chamber for receivingsaid oriented reeds, a track leading into said chamber, and an outletcommunicating with said chamber for dispensing said oriented reeds;

a vibratory pathway for longitudinally feeding said reeds thereon tosaid track in random endwise orientations;

an air nozzle mounted adjacent said pathway;

means responsive to a foremost of said reeds being fed on said track foroperating said air nozzle to blow said reeds off said pathway, said airnozzle operating means being positioned at a point adjacent said trackwhich is spaced by said length from said air nozzle in the direction inwhich said reeds are longitudinally fed; and

means responsive to stoppage of said articles on said track for movingone of said plates relative to the other of said plates to remove fromsaid chamber any articles therein and to separate said track to removeany articles thereon, and for continuously operating said air nozzle toblow from said pathway all of said reeds fed thereon.

8. An apparatus for feeding and orienting reeds, which comprises:

orienting means for receiving the reeds to orient said reeds in apredetermined endwise position;

a vibratory pathway for feeding longitudinally said reeds in a column tosaid orienting means in random endwise orientations;

means for preventing overlying and bent reeds from being received bysaid orienting means to stop the movement of said column of reeds;

an air nozzle mounted adjacent said track;

detecting means for generating a first signal in response to a foremostof'said reeds being fed on said pathway and for generating a secondsignal in response to failure of said orienting means to receive saidreeds when the movement of said column is stopped;

means for mounting said detecting means between said air nozzle and saidorienting means at a point separated from said air nozzle by the lengthof said reeds;

first control means responsive to said first signal for blowing airthrough said air nozzle to space said fed reeds by a distance at leastequal to said length; and

second control means responsive to said second signal for continuouslyoperating said air nozzle, for removing from said orienting means anyreeds therewithin, and for removing from said pathway any reeds thereonbetween said air nozzle and said orienting means.

9. An apparatus for conveying bent and straight elongated articles,comprising:

a track;

means connected to said track for orienting said articles in apredetermined endwise position, said orienting means including a platemovable to eject from said orienting means any articles therein, and toeject from said track any articles thereon;

means for feeding thereon said articles in a column of random endwisepositions along said track and into said orienting means, said columnincluding randomly distributed groups of said articles, said groupsincluding one or more of said bent and straight articles;

means responsive to the presence of a first of said groups of reeds forremoving from said feeding means the group of articles behind said firstcolumn group to space said groups of articles on said track by adistance at least equal to the length of one of said articles;

means mounted on said track for preventing articles of said groups whichinclude a plurality of said articles from being fed into said orientingmeans to stop the feeding of said column of articles on said track, andfor preventing said bent articles from being fed into said orientingmeans to stop the feeding of said column of articles on said track; and

means responsive to stopping of the feeding of said column of articlesfor continuously operating said removing means to prevent furtherfeeding of said articles to said track and for moving said plate.

10. An apparatus for conveying bent and straight reeds having wire-likeends and opposed flattened ends and having predetermined lengths,comprising:

a bowl;

an upwardly directed, helical pathway within said bowl;

a first air nozzle mounted adjacent said pathway;

reed orienting means having an entrance and a vertical chambercommunicating with said entrance for receiving randomly positioned reedsand for dispensing said reeds with their wire-like ends downward, saidorienting means including a pair of spaced, orienting rails mounted atthe top of said chamber within said entrance, said rails being shorterthan said entrance to define a pair of inlets and being spaced apart adistance less than the width of said paddle ends and greater than thediameter of said wire-like ends;

a horizontal track connecting said pathway to said entrance, said trackhaving an aperture therethrough separated from said first air nozzle bysaid length;

vibratory means for feeding said bent and straight reeds in randomend-to-end relations and in random groups of overlying and non-overlyingrelationships at a constant velocity from said bowl, up said pathway,onto said track, over said aperture in a first predetermined time, andto said entrance of said chamber;

means for preventing said bent reeds and said reeds in said groups ofoverlying reeds from being fed into said entrance to back said reeds upon said track to continuously cover said aperture for a time greaterthan said first predetermined time;

movable means normally positioned to form a Wall of said chamber andmounted on a vertical axis for swinging away from said chamber toestablish an ejecting exit in said chamber and to separate said track;

a spring biasing said movable means to said normal position;

a horizontally disposed tab member mounted to said movable means whichcovers said aperture when said movable means is swung away from saidchamber;

a second air nozzle positioned within and directed transversely acrosssaid chamber;

photoelectric means positioned on one side of said aperture above theplane of said tab for momentarily producing an air blast from said firstair nozzle for as long as a foremost of said fed reeds passes over saidaperture with said constant velocity; and

means connected to said photoelectric means and responsive to saidaperture being covered for a time greater than said first predeterminedtime for continuously operating said first air nozzle to prevent furtherreeds from being fed to said track and for producing an air blast fromsaid second air nozzle to swing said movable means away from saidchamber to establish said ejecting exit, to separate said track, and toproduce turbulence to remove from said chamber through said ejectingexit any reeds in said chamber and to remove from said separated trackany reeds thereon, said tab member covering said aperture to ensureoperation of said first and second air nozzles for a time necessary toremove said backup of said reeds from said track, said spring returningsaid movable means to said normal position when said backup of saidreeds is removed.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,570,923 10/1951Dodge 19831 2,802,560 8/1957 Engleson 198-31 2,915,165 12/1959 Bell19833 References Cited by the Applicant UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,713,4107/ 1955 Irmscher. 3,011,101 11/1961 Boyce. 3,033,418 5/1962 Hollopetre.

SAMUEL F. COLEMAN, Primary Examiner.

EDWARD A. SROKA, Examiner.

1. AN APPARATUS FOR CONVEYING ELONGATED ARTICLES, WHICH COMPRISES: MEANSFOR ORIENTING THE ELONGATED ARTICLES IN A PREDETERMINED ENDWISEPOSITION, SAID ORIENTING MEANS INCLUDING A PAIR OF NORMALLY ADJACENTPLATES, SAID PLATES DEFINING AN INLET FOR RECEIVING SAID ARTICLES, ACHAMBER, AND AN OUTLET FOR DISPENSING SAID ORIENTED ARTICLES; MEANS FORSUCCESSIVELY FEEDING SAID ARTICLES TO SAID INLET OF SAID ORIENTING MEANSIN A COLUMN OF RANDOM ENDWISE POSITIONS; MEANS RESPONSIVE TO THEPRESENCE OF SAID ARTICLES OF SAID COLUMN OF ARTICLES FOR A FIRSTPREDETERMINED TIME FOR EJECTING EVERY OTHER ARTICLE OF SAID COLUMN OFARTICLES TO SPACE APART SAID ARTICLES AT INTERVALS AT LEAST EQUAL TO THELENGTH OF SAID ARTICLES; AND MEANS RESPONSIVE TO THE PRESENCE OF SAIDARTICLES FOR A SECOND TIME GREATER THAN SAID FIRST PREDETERMINED TIMEFOR MOVING AT LEAST ONE OF SAID PLATES AWAY FROM SAID OTHER PLATE TOOPEN SAID CHAMBER TO PERMIT THE MOVEMENT THEREFROM OF ANY ARTICLESTHEREIN.